Simple & Delicious!
This Chicken & Wild Rice Bake literally takes minutes to throw together, cooks all in one pot and when plated, looks like you spent hours making it. My husband has always shied away from the dark meat of chicken and he isn't always a huge fan of one pot "casserole" dishes, but he loves this dish.
What you'll need:
Rice a Roni- Wild rice blend
boneless, skinless chicken thighs
baby carrots
chicken stock
butter
dried thyme
poultry seasoning
salt and pepper
Step one:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Pour the rice a roni wild rice into a 2.75 quart or larger casserole dish. Open seasoning packets and sprinkle over rice. Cut up ½ of the stick of butter and place over rice mixture. Add chicken broth.
Step Two:
In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper, thyme and poultry season. Coat both sides of the chicken thighs with spice mixture. I chose to use chicken thighs because they are very forgiving with long cook times. Since this will be in the oven for 90 minutes, I thought chicken breasts could become dry. There will be some left over spice mixture, just pour it on top of the baby carrots and mix to coat.
Step Three:
Add the chicken thighs to the casserole dish. Cover with baby carrots.Cut the remaining ½ stick of butter up and place on top of the carrots. Cover with tinfoil and place into preheated oven for 60 minutes.
Step Four:
After 6o minutes, remove foil and bake an additional 30 minutes. You can see that after 60 minutes, the rice still has not absorbed the chicken stock, this will happen in the next 30 minutes I promise!
Step Five:
Turn oven off and allow to sit in hot oven for about 10 minutes. Remove the chicken & wild rice bake, serve hot.
Chicken & Wild Rice Bake
Ingredients
- 2 Boxes Rice a Roni Wild Rice blend
- 2 1/12 cups Chicken Stock
- 1 Stick of butter divided
- 6 Chicken thighs boneless, skinless
- 1 ½ Teaspoons salt
- 2 Teaspoons pepper
- ½ Teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ Teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 3 cups Baby carrots
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Pour both boxes of Rice a Roni into a 2.75 (or larger) quart casserole dish. Sprinkle seasoning packets over rice.
- Cut up ½ stick of butter and place on top of rice Mixture. Pour in chicken stock.
- Combine spices and rub on both sides of chicken thighs. Use the extra spice mixture to coat carrots.
- Place chicken into casserole dish. Cover with carrots and slice ½ stick of butter on top of carrots. and cover with aluminum foil.
- Bake for 60 minutes on 375 degrees Fahrenheit, then remove foil and continue to bake for 30 minutes or until most of the chicken stock has been absorbed. Turn off heat and let sit in hot oven for 5-10 minutes.
- Remove and serve.
Susan
I have wild rice blend (not Rice a Roni). Can you tell me how many cups I need for this recipe and what seasonings and amounts I need to replace the seasoning packets? Thanks.
Louise
Here you go! This recipe is from scratch and if you don't have a pressure cooker, then you can use the cooking method in the oven recipe: https://thesaltedpepper.com/ninja-foodi-chicken-and-wild-rice
Chris
I made two of these, one for a friend of our family going through a health crises and one for my crew. So easy and so delicious!! A new favorite with my kids! Will definitely keep this as a regular in our meal rotation! Easy and tasty...I'm all about that! Thanks Louise!!
Louise
Chris, thanks for trying out some of my recipes! This Chicken & Wild Rice Bake is one of my favorite quick and easy meals too, I just made it for us the other night! Makes great leftovers for lunches too.
Jalesia
OMG!!!! Michele made this dish for our family and it was absolutely delicious! The children ages range from 3 years to 9 years old and they really enjoyed this meal also!
Louise
I'm so glad everyone liked it, Jalesia!
Karen Crosby
I made this tonight. It was very easy and quick to prepare, which is what i need. When I went to the store, they didn't have the Wild Rice, so I got the Rice a Roni, Chicken. This was so good and I think i will stick with this when i make it again. The whole recipe was delicious. The chicken was so moist. I was a little worried because my package of chicken thighs had 8 pieces instead of the 6 called for in the recipe. I used all 8 and they were so juicy. The kids couldn't stop raving about it at the dinner table. They both like raw carrots, but not cooked, but with this recipe, they ate every last one on their plate.
I need meals like this because of work and kids. This will be one i definitely make again!
Keep them coming, Louise!
Louise
Thanks, Karen! I'm so glad your family enjoyed this recipe...it's one of my favorites! Thanks for pointing out that you don't have to use Wild Rice Blend, you can substitute any Rice-A-Roni blend you like. Stay Tuned...I'm working on more recipes that are easy to throw together and some that go from freezer to table in under 30 minutes!
Michele Freeman
This dish is good enough for a 5 star restaurant! Excellence made easy...and the cleanup is a breeze. Thanks for sharing this recipe!!!!!!
Louise
Thank you Michele! I'm so glad you liked it, it's one of my favorites! I love the easy prep and hands off cooking!